Shell Backs Openbay, Ex-Nest Exec’s New Startup & More Boston Deals

July 3, 2018

Time to catch up on recent news from the Boston-area tech scene:

—Monotony.ai, a stealthy new startup based in Watertown, MA, has raised $2.65 million from investors, according to an SEC filing. The company’s website doesn’t offer any clues about what it’s working on, but the new venture is led by Ben Bixby, who sold his previous startup, MyEnergy,to the smart home device maker Nest in 2013. Bixby spent the past five years at Nest, according to his LinkedIn profile.

—Shell Ventures led an $8 million Series A investment in Openbay, a Cambridge, MA-based startup that runs an online marketplace for automotive repair and related services. Other investors in the round included previous Openbay backer Stage 1 Ventures, according to a press release. Openbay said it plans to invest in new software tools that utilize natural language processing, machine learning, and predictive analytics.